The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 199: Chapter 200: A New Beginning

Ji Won remained standing at the doorway for several seconds.

His eyes stayed fixed on the man lying on the bed.

His father looked exactly as he had for the past several years.

Thin.

Pale.

Motionless.

The medical devices surrounding him continued displaying his vital signs, while another monitor quietly tracked the unstable flow of mana throughout his body.

Ji Won slowly walked toward the bed.

Ares followed behind him.

Ji Won stopped beside his father and looked down at him.

"This is my father."

His voice was quiet.

Ares nodded.

Ji Won reached into his pocket.

His fingers closed around the small crystal bottle containing the golden liquid.

He took it out.

The Elixir of Rebirth.

For several seconds, he simply stared at it.

His expression gradually became uncertain.

"Tae-Ho..."

He rarely used Ares’s real name.

Even now, his voice remained hesitant.

"What if..."

He stopped.

Ares looked at him.

"What is it?"

Ji Won lowered his gaze toward the bottle.

"You said this can cure him."

"Yes."

"I believe you."

He tightened his fingers around the bottle.

"But..."

He looked toward his father again.

"There are thousands of people suffering from the same disease."

Ares remained silent.

"Mana Paralysis Syndrome."

Ji Won’s voice became heavier.

"That’s what the doctors call it."

He looked at the medical equipment surrounding the bed.

"It started becoming common after the mana levels in the world changed. At first, it was considered rare, but now there are thousands of patients."

He swallowed.

"Most of them are ordinary people."

Ares listened quietly.

"Their bodies can’t adapt to the mana around them."

Ji Won looked at his father’s unmoving body.

"At first, they just become weak. Their hands and legs become numb. Then they have trouble walking."

His voice became quieter.

"Eventually, their bodies stop responding."

He paused.

"And once they reach the final stage..."

Ji Won’s fingers tightened around the bottle.

"They lose consciousness."

Ares’s expression remained calm.

Ji Won continued.

"They don’t wake up again."

The room became quiet.

"Their bodies are still alive. Their hearts keep beating, and their organs can keep functioning with enough medical support."

He looked at his father.

"But they’re not really there anymore."

Ji Won’s eyes became wet.

"They can’t speak. They can’t move. They can’t even open their eyes."

He lowered his head.

"That’s what happened to my father."

Ares remained silent.

Ji Won stared at the golden liquid.

"The doctors told me there was nothing they could do."

He laughed weakly.

"They said we could slow the progression, but once someone reaches this stage..."

His voice broke slightly.

"...there’s no coming back."

He looked toward Ares.

"So I’m scared."

Ares didn’t answer immediately.

Ji Won lowered his gaze again.

"What if this doesn’t work?"

He looked at the bottle.

"What if I give it to him and nothing happens?"

Ares remained calm.

"Then you’ll have your answer."

Ji Won stared at him.

"But you said—"

"I said it will work."

Ares’s voice remained steady.

"I wouldn’t have given it to you otherwise."

Ji Won remained silent.

Ares continued.

"Trust me."

Ji Won looked at the bottle again.

Then at his father.

After several seconds, he finally nodded.

"Let’s see."

He stepped closer to the bed.

His hands were still trembling slightly as he removed the cap from the bottle.

The golden liquid inside remained perfectly still.

Ji Won looked at it one last time.

Then he carefully moved closer to his father.

"Father..."

There was no response.

Ji Won swallowed.

"I’m going to give you something."

His father remained completely unconscious.

Ji Won slowly slipped one arm beneath his father’s shoulders.

He was lighter than Ji Won remembered.

That realization made his chest tighten.

Carefully, Ji Won lifted him.

The older man’s body moved almost completely limp in his arms.

Ji Won adjusted the pillows behind him and slowly raised his upper body until his father was sitting against the bed.

"Easy..."

He carefully supported his head.

His father’s eyes remained closed.

His breathing remained slow and steady.

Ji Won brought the bottle toward his lips.

"Please..."

His voice became barely audible.

"Drink this."

He tilted the bottle.

The golden liquid slowly entered his father’s mouth.

At first, there was no reaction.

Ji Won stopped for a moment.

Then carefully tilted the bottle again.

The remaining liquid flowed into his father’s mouth.

Drop by drop.

Until finally—

The bottle was empty.

Ji Won lowered it.

Nothing happened.

The room remained silent.

The medical monitors continued producing the same quiet sounds.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Ji Won stared at his father.

A few seconds passed.

Then another.

Nothing.

His father’s eyes remained closed.

His breathing hadn’t changed.

Ji Won’s expression slowly fell.

"...Nothing."

Ares remained beside him.

Ji Won carefully lowered his father back against the pillows.

He adjusted his position so that he was sitting comfortably.

Then he stepped away.

He looked at the empty bottle.

His fingers trembled.

"Tae-ho..."

His voice was filled with worry.

"Just wait."

Ares looked at him.

Ji Won’s eyes remained fixed on his father.

"Give it some time."

Ji Won nodded.

"Okay."

He sat beside the bed.

His hands rested on his knees.

He waited.

One minute.

Then another.

His father didn’t move.

Ji Won lowered his head.

Maybe it really wouldn’t work.

Maybe the disease had progressed too far.

Maybe even something as extraordinary as the Elixir of Rebirth couldn’t restore someone whose body had already deteriorated this badly.

The thought made his chest tighten.

He closed his eyes.

"Please..."

He whispered.

"I’ve finally come this far."

His fingers slowly curled into fists.

"I just want him to wake up."

Ares watched quietly.

He already knew what was happening.

True Sight had shown him the changes occurring inside the older man’s body.

The elixir had begun working almost immediately.

But the transformation wasn’t something that could happen in an instant.

The man’s damaged organs were being restored one after another.

The mana pathways throughout his body were being repaired.

The disease that had spread through his nervous system was being erased at its source rather than merely suppressed.

His body was rebuilding itself.

Slowly.

Completely.

Ares could see every stage of it.

But Ji Won couldn’t.

All he could do was wait.

Another minute passed.

Then another.

Ji Won remained beside the bed.

His head lowered.

His shoulders gradually became heavier.

He had spent years watching his father sleep.

Years wondering whether he would ever wake up.

Years being told that the answer was no.

And now he had finally been given a possibility.

He was terrified of believing in it.

Then—

A hand touched the top of his head.

Ji Won froze.

His eyes slowly widened.

He knew that hand.

It was warm.

Ji Won slowly raised his head.

His father’s eyes were open.

For a moment, Ji Won couldn’t breathe.

His father looked at him.

His expression was confused.

Then a faint smile appeared on his face.

"...Ji Won."

The voice was weak.

But clear.

Ji Won’s entire body froze.

"Father..."

His voice trembled.

His father’s smile became slightly clearer.

"Ji Won..."

This time, the word was even more certain.

Ji Won’s eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Father!"

He almost shouted.

He stood so quickly that the chair behind him nearly fell over.

Then he leaned forward and wrapped both arms around his father.

"Father!"

His voice broke completely.

His father seemed surprised by the sudden embrace.

"Wait..."

Ji Won immediately froze.

"Ah..."

He pulled back slightly.

"Forgive me, Father."

His tears were already falling.

"It..."

He wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"It really worked."

His father looked at him.

"What worked?"

Ji Won laughed through his tears.

"The medicine."

He looked at the empty bottle.

"The medicine I gave you."

His father remained confused.

"Medicine?"

"Yes."

Ji Won carefully wiped away his tears.

"You’ve been sick for years."

He laughed again.

"But you’re awake."

His father looked around the room.

Then at his hands.

He slowly moved his fingers.

His expression became increasingly confused.

"I..."

He raised one hand.

"My body..."

He moved his arm.

Then his other arm.

He slowly shifted his legs beneath the blanket.

"I can move."

Ji Won stared at him.

His father looked at his own hands.

"I can actually move."

His voice became filled with disbelief.

He slowly sat upright.

The movement was awkward at first, but he managed it without assistance.

Ji Won immediately reached toward him.

"Be careful."

His father looked at him.

"I’m fine."

He smiled faintly.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ji Won couldn’t answer.

His father looked at his face more carefully.

Then he frowned.

"Wait."

He raised one hand and touched Ji Won’s cheek.

"You’ve changed."

Ji Won blinked.

"Changed?"

"You look older."

His father studied his face.

"Not much, but..."

He smiled.

"You’ve grown."

Ji Won laughed quietly.

"Of course I have."

His father looked at him for several seconds.

Then his expression softened.

"I’m sorry."

Ji Won froze.

"For what?"

"I wasn’t there."

His father’s voice became quieter.

"You had to take care of everything yourself."

Ji Won shook his head immediately.

"Don’t say that."

"But it’s true."

His father looked down.

"You were still young."

Ji Won sat beside him.

"I’m fine now."

He smiled.

"Everything is fine."

His father looked at him.

"How?"

Ji Won hesitated.

His father looked at him.

"How?"

Ji Won hesitated for a moment.

His gaze shifted toward Ares, who had remained quietly beside the bed throughout their conversation.

"Father..."

His father followed his gaze.

Ji Won took a slow breath.

"There’s someone I want you to meet."

He gestured toward Ares.

"This is Yoon Tae-ho. He’s my friend."

"And Tae-ho, this is my father. His name is Han Do-hyun."

Ares nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Han Do-hyun."

Do-hyun smiled weakly.

"Nice to meet you too, Tae-ho."

Ares stepped forward and gave a polite bow.

His father looked at him for a moment before returning the greeting with a faint smile.

Ji Won remained beside the bed.

"Tae-ho is the person I told you about."

His father looked back at him.

"The one who helped you?"

"Yeah."

Ji Won nodded.

"That’s him."

His father looked toward Ares again, his expression becoming more attentive.

Ji Won continued.

"We met by accident."

He paused briefly.

"I was coming back from a dungeon hunt when I accidentally bumped into him on the street."

He continued explaining how strange their first conversation had been, how he had introduced Ares to the Awakener system because Ares apparently knew almost nothing about the changes that had occurred in the world, and how the two eventually began hunting together.

"We started out as temporary hunting partners."

Ji Won glanced at Ares.

"But after spending more time together, we became friends."

His father listened quietly.

Ji Won’s expression softened.

"Tae-ho helped me with my hunts, healed me whenever I was injured, and eventually gave me the Crimson Oath Ring."

His father looked toward the ring on Ji Won’s finger.

"That ring..."

"Yes."

Ji Won nodded.

"It was because of this ring that my strength changed so much."

He smiled faintly.

"I eventually underwent a Second Awakening and became an A-Rank Awakener."

His father’s eyes widened slightly.

"From E-Rank?"

"Yeah."

Ji Won looked down at his hands.

"I never thought something like that would happen to me."

His father remained silent for a moment before looking toward Ares.

"And the medicine?"

Ji Won glanced at the empty bottle beside the bed.

"That was Tae-ho too."

His father looked at Ares.

Ji Won continued.

"When I told him about your condition, he gave me the Elixir of Rebirth."

His father’s expression became serious.

"The elixir..."

"Yes."

Ji Won nodded.

"He told me that it could cure any disease."

His father looked down at his hands.

He slowly opened and closed his fingers again.

"I understand."

His voice was quiet.

He slowly leaned back against the bed.

"There are still many things I don’t understand."

Ji Won nodded.

"I know."

"But..."

His father looked down at his hands once more.

"I don’t think I need to understand everything tonight."

Ji Won’s expression softened.

His father looked toward him.

"Right now, I’m simply grateful that I can see you standing here."

Ji Won lowered his head.

"Father..."

His father smiled faintly.

"You’ve grown."

Ji Won laughed softly through the tears still in his eyes.

"Yeah."

His father reached out and placed a hand against his shoulder.

"I missed seeing you like this."

Ji Won covered his father’s hand with his own.

"I missed you too."

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The hospital room was quiet except for the faint sounds of the equipment that no longer needed to monitor a failing body.

For years, Ji Won had sat beside that same bed believing that his father would never wake again.

Now his father was sitting beside him, speaking normally, moving his hands, and looking at him with the same warmth Ji Won remembered from before the illness had taken so much from them.

Ares remained a short distance away, quietly giving them the space they needed.

His eyes rested on the two of them.

’At least it worked.’

That was all that mattered.

His father was alive.

He was awake.

And for the first time in years, Ji Won no longer had to wonder whether tomorrow would bring another hospital bill, another worsening symptom, or the possibility of losing the last member of his family.

His father looked toward Ares once more.

"Tae-ho."

Ares looked at him.

"Yes, sir?"

"Thank you."

Ares gave him a faint smile.

"You don’t need to thank me again."

His father smiled.

"Perhaps."

He looked toward Ji Won.

"But I still want to."

Ji Won lowered his gaze, quietly smiling.

For the first time in years, the room no longer felt like a place where they were waiting for something to end.

It was simply a room where a father and his son had been given another chance to be together.

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